youaregoingitHasn’tanykindfriendtoldyouthatshe’sthemostdangerouswomaninSimla？”
YeerechuckledandpassedoutWhen，ohwhen，wouldhisnewclothesbeready？HedescendedintotheMalltoinquire；andMrsHauksbee，comingovertheChurchRidgeinher’rickshaw，lookeddownuponhimapprovingly’He’slearningtocarryhimselfasifwereaman，insteadofapieceoffurniture，-and。”shescreweduphereyestoseethebetterthroughthesunlight-“heisamanwhenheholdshimselflikethat。
OhblessedConceit，whatshouldwebewithoutyou？”
Withthenewclothescameanewstockofself-confidenceOtisYeerediscoveredthathecouldenteraroomwithoutbreakingintoagentleperspiration-couldcrossone，eventotalktoMrs。
Hauksbee，asthoughroomsweremeanttobecrossedHewasforthefirsttimeinnineyearsproudofhimself，andcontentedwithhislife，satisfiedwithhisnewclothes，andrejoicinginthefriendshipofMrsHauksbee。
“Conceitiswhatthepoorfellowwants。”shesaidinconfidencetoMrsMallowe“IbelievetheymustuseCivilianstoploughthefieldswithinLowerBengalsYouseeIhavetobeginfromtheverybeginning-haven’tI？Butyou’lladmit，won’tyou，dear，thatheisimmenselyimprovedsinceItookhiminhandOnlygivemealittlemoretimeandhewon’tknowhimself。”
Indeed，Yeerewasrapidlybeginningtoforgetwhathehadbeen。
OneofhisownrankandfileputthematterbrutallywhenheaskedYeere，inreferencetonothing，“Andwhohasbeenmaking“ouaMembetofCouncil，lately？Youcarrythesideofhalfadozenof’em。”
“I-I’mawf’lysorryIdidn’tmeanit，youknow。”saidYeere，apologetically。
“There’llbenoholdingyou。”continuedtheoldstager，grimly。
“Climbdown，Otis-climbdown，andgetallthatbeastlyaffectationknockedoutofyouwithfever！
Threethousandamonthwouldn’tsupportit。”
YeererepeatedtheincidenttoMrsHauksbeeHehadcometolookuponherashisMotherConfessor。
“Andyouapologized！”shesaid“Oh，shame！IhateamanwhoapologizesNeverapologizeforwhatyourfriendcalled’side。’Never！It’saman’sbusinesstobeinsolentandoverbearinguntilhemeetswithastrongerNow，youbadboy，listentome。”
Simplyandstraightforwardly，asthe’rickshawloiteredroundJakko，MrsHauksbeepreachedtoOtisYeeretheGreatGospelofConceit，illustratingitwithlivingpicturesencounteredduringtheirSundayafternoonstroll。
“Goodgracious！”sheended，withthepersonalargument，“you’llapologizenextforbeingmyattache““
“Never！”saidOtisYeere“That’sanotherthingaltogetherIshallalwaysbe“-“What’scoming？”
thoughtMrs。
Hauksbee。
“Proudofthat。”saidOtis。
“Safeforthepresent。”shesaidtoherself。
“ButI’mafraidIhavegrownconceitedLikeJeshurun，youknow。
Whenhewaxedfat，thenhekickedIt’sthehavingnoworryonone’smindandtheHillair，I
suppose。”
“Hillair，indeed！”saidMrsHauksbeetoherself“He’dhavebeenhidingT~
intheClubtillthelastdayofhisleave，ifIhadn’tdiscoveredhim。”
Andaloud-“Whyshouldn’tyoube？Youhaveeveryrightto。”“I！Why？”
“Oh，hundredsofthingsI’mnotgoingtowastethislovelyafternoonbyexplaining；butIknowyouhaveWhatwasthatheapofmanuscriptyoushowedmeaboutthegrammaroftheaboriginalwhat’stheirnames？”
“G’渓lalsApieceofnonsenseI’vefartoomuchworktodotobotheroverGullalsnowYoushouldseemyDistrictComedownwithyourhusbandsomedayandI’llshowyouroundSuchalovelyplaceintheRains！Asheetofwaterwiththerailway-embankmentandthesnakesstickingout，and，inthesummer，greenfliesandgreensquashThepeoplewoulddieoffearifyoushookadogwhipat’emButtheyknowyou’reforbiddentodothat，sotheyconspiretomakeyourlifeaburdentoyouMyDistrict’sworkedbysomemanatDarjiling，onthestrengthofunativepleader’sfalsereportsOh，it’saheavenl...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：